


Paint You By Number (And Color You In)

by starkpilot



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Face Painter, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Flirty Tony, Fluff, M/M, Tony being a good uncle, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, but also awkward tony, flirty steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 09:35:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13499298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkpilot/pseuds/starkpilot
Summary: Tony's roped into staying with Rhodey at his niece's birthday party, and things are kind of boring....Until he meets the cute face painter(or the au Syd gave me ideas for and I couldn't resist)





	Paint You By Number (And Color You In)

**Author's Note:**

> My third official Stony fic! 
> 
> This is dedicated to three important people. First, Syd bc she was the one that gave me this wonderful, fluffy au. Second and third go out to two amazing people I follow on Tumblr, @itsallavengers and @smarterest !! Definitely check out their blogs and show some love.
> 
> Also a HUGE shoutout to Chels for proof reading and fixing any mistakes I had in here !

Honestly, it was Rhodey’s fault he was here.    
  
His niece was having a birthday party (a horrifically cliché party if Tony was being honest) and Rhodey hadn't wanted to spend it by himself surrounded by hyperactive children. 

Hence why Tony was sitting on the swings listening to a kid explain, in depth, why their favorite color was green.   
  
_He was going to kill Rhodey_.   
  
"Plus trees are green, and so are apples! But veggies are green and _ew_ no one likes veggies-"   
  
"Uncle Tony!!" Tony had never felt more relieved to have an interruption.   
  
"Hey kiddo." Tony smiled and picked Lila up. "Happy birthday, lovebug! How old are you now, six?  
  
Lila rolled her eyes. "I'm seven now, Uncle Tony; I'm not a _baby_ anymore."   
  
"My fault, how dare I assume you were a baby? You're a Rhodes, the only baby in your family is your Uncle James," Tony said and smiled, making Lila laugh. Lila's eyes landed on something over his shoulder.  
  
"Facepaint! Uncle Tony get your face painted with me! Please please _please_!"  
  
Tony hesitated, unsure if he was in the mood to sit still while another adult painted a heart or rainbow on his cheek. But looking into Lila's wide brown eyes he knew he wouldn't be able to say no. Her damn puppy dog eyes were just irresistible.  
  
"Now I know why your Uncle James spoils you so much, you menace." Tony held his hand out for Lila. With an excited squeal she grabbed his hand and made a run for the face painting station. He wondered what poor sap they had hired to paint six and seven year old's faces for three hours.   
  
"Well, hi there! You're the birthday girl right?" a voice asked. Tony's gaze found the owner of the voice.   
  
_Oh._  
  
The man was young, no more than 28. His hair, a messy blonde style, was a nice contrast to his blue eyes. _God those eyes_. He had paint marks scattered across him, some on his face and others on his clothes. He was breathtaking.   
  
So it was only natural that Tony panicked.   
  
"It's not my birthday."   
  
"Uh, alright," Blondie said as Tony's brain finally caught up with what he had said. He slapped a hand over his forehead and groaned.   
  
" _Oh my god."_ Blondie laughed and for a second, Tony worried the sound had stopped his heart completely. Instead it continued beating, practically thumping, against his chest. Lila, clearly ignoring the two of them, sat down in front of the man.   
  
"Uncle Tony and I are getting our faces painted! I want a bumblebee, please." The man smiled and nodded, setting up the paint and getting started. Tony watched the man paint, his eyes focused on the curve of the brush. Between his lips Tony could see a sliver of pink, his tongue poking out in concentration. It was clear the man had more experience and passion than someone who painted faces for a living. 

“Alright, all done! Ready to see the final product?” Lila nodded her head vigorously, excitement clear on her face. The face painter held up a small mirror and once again Tony’s ears were filled with the sound of Lila’s squeal.

“Thank you! Uncle Tony, it’s your turn.” Tony felt his face begin to flush at the thought of sitting so close to the beautiful man while he painted on him. Carefully, trying not to embarrass himself any further than he already had, Tony switched places with Lila.

“And what did you want?” Tony had to bite his tongue to stop  _ You _ from being his response.

“Surprise me.” The man studied him for a moment, his gaze making Tony flush again. Tony looked past him in an attempt to use Lila as a distraction, only to find her long gone, showing off the new bee on her left cheek.

With Lila gone, Tony was ready to give up on the whole face painting thing and go find Rhodey instead. But, before he had the chance to excuse himself,  there was a paintbrush running across his cheek.

_ Well fuck. _

It looked like he was doing this after all. He tried to start the conversation again, in true Tony Stark fashion.

“I know I said surprise me, but  _ please _ don’t paint a giant dick on my face.” The laugh he heard was sudden and loud. It was a sound Tony wanted to record and play on loop everyday.

“Damn, you ruined my plan.” Tony laughed. He held out his hand, stopping the man for a moment.

“Tony Stark.” There was instantly a hand in his, shaking lightly. He received another bright smile.

“Steve Rogers.” 

“Well, Steve Rogers, how did you end up painting kids’ faces on a Saturday afternoon?” It was small talk, he knew, but he couldn’t resist.

“I uh, need the money for classes,” was Steve’s quiet response.

“You’re a student? Please tell me it’s for art.”

“No, it’s actually for Bagpiping.”

“Wow, I wonder if you could get your masters in  _ blowing- _ ”

“ _ Tony. _ ”

“What? It was a legitimate question!” Steve rolled his eyes, his smile giving him away.

“Stop moving around so much, I’m almost done.”

Tony let out a breath of air trying to be as still as possible. He could feel the brush moving softly across his cheek. But most importantly he could feel the warmth radiating off of Steve’s close body. He watched Steve move once again, focusing on the blue of his eyes. He couldn’t exactly discern the exact color of them but it didn’t matter. What mattered was they were beautiful: _Steve_ was beautiful.

“All done,” Steve whispered, staring straight into Tony’s eyes. His gaze flickered down to Tony’s lips and  _ oh, _ he was leaning in and-

“Uncle Tony! Uncle James is looking for you.” Tony flinched back at Lila’s sudden outburst. “I like your rainbow heart, Uncle Tony,” she continued. Tony reached for his cheek, his fingertips faintly touching wet paint.

Tony cleared his throat, “Thanks, lovebug. Mr. Steve did a great job.” He snuck a glance over at Steve who was blushing at either the prior situation or the compliment, Tony wasn’t sure. “Where’s your Uncle James?” Lila pointed to the house where he could see Rhodey trying to carry out bowls of snacks. Slowly Tony got up and headed towards the house. He glanced back one more time, catching Steve’s eyes.

“Thanks again, Rogers. Hopefully I’ll see you around.”

\----

Tony was officially exhausted. The kids had all gone home, high on the copious amounts of sugar they ingested, and the clean-up process had begun immediately. He had been so caught up in helping Rhodey and Jeanette that he hadn’t had the chance to see Steve before he went home. It left Tony with a gut wrenching feeling.

“Tones, I need another favor.”

“Honeybear, you know I love you, but if you ask me juggle or be a clown-” Rhodey rolled his eyes, shoving a check into Tony’s chest.

“I need you to pay the face painter. There’s too many things that Jeanette still needs help with and I don’t have the time. Also, just so we’re clear, you can barely carry two things at once let alone three.” Tony would have pretended to be offended if he wasn’t focused on the fact that there was still a chance to see Steve. Tony hastily grabbed the check and bolted from the house. 

He found Steve packing up his things, his blonde hair a stark contrast against the purple hue of the sky. He turned as he heard Tony approaching, a smile forming instantaneously.

“Hey, I thought you’d gone home already.”

“Nah, I had to help the family clean up. Rhodey would have killed me if I left him alone,” He held out the check towards Steve. “Here’s the check for today. And thanks for doing this. I know it meant a lot to Lila and her friends.” He waited for Steve to grab the check.

Instead Steve grabbed his arm and the nearest paintbrush.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

Steve moved the brush over Tony’s forearm gracefully. When he finished, he packed up the brush and placed a light kiss on Tony’s cheek.

“How ‘bout instead of the check, you pay for dinner tomorrow night. Seven o’clock?”

Flustered, Tony nodded his head. “Yeah- yes, absolutely.” Steve flashed a bright smile.

“Call me,” he said as a farewell. He was gone before Tony’s brain could catch up. He looked down at his arm and found a phone number painted in dark blue. He bit his lip to try and stop himself from smiling.

“Tones! Come help me bring the tables in!” he heard Rhodey call and Tony laughed to himself. It’d be wise of him to help Rhodey and get home as quickly as possible.

After all, he had a date tomorrow.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to follow me on Tumblr and Twitter :) @starkpilot
> 
> (the @ changed)


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